Saving Charlie (Stories of Serendipity Book 9) (9 page)

BOOK: Saving Charlie (Stories of Serendipity Book 9)
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Chapter 8

From Carla May’s journal —1995—Aged fifteen

He came into my room, shirtless already, ripping his belt through the loops on his jeans.

“Get on your knees,” he yelled at me, and I did it without arguing. I knew it was coming. I’d only brought home $300 tonight, and I was supposed to have $350. I was fifty dollars shy.

As his belt screamed though the air to meet the skin on my back with a loud slapping sound, I withdrew inside my head. I didn’t mind the beatings. It had gotten to where I expected them, almost welcomed the pain. It was a refreshing change from the constant numbness. Numbness I forced myself into. The Man didn’t tell me he loved me as much anymore. Only that I’d disappointed him. I didn’t want to disappoint him, so I submitted to his beatings.

“I’ve got a special job for you tonight.” We were finishing our food from McDonald’s, and The Man was rolling a jay for us to smoke. After we got high, he rubbed my back. It had been so long since he’d shown me affection like this, and I was really liking it. It made me feel like I had when I first started living with The Man. “I don’t trust my other girls to go into someone else’s home and do a gang-bang. You’re the only one who will do a good job.” His praise gave me a warm feeling inside, even if his words didn’t. I didn’t mind the gang-bangs. The Man usually gave me some good stuff before to prepare me, and a good reward afterward. Last time, he’d given me some smack, and it had made the entire experience feel really good. All those different guys going at me, and the whole time I was floating on some sort of cloud, like nothing really mattered except the feelings of their hands on me. As we cleaned up from our afternoon, he told me to get ready, I was about to have the night of my life.

“Make me proud, Baby.”

“Let me buy you something. You don’t need to go spending money on my event.” They’d arrived at Santa Barbara, and since Les’s friend had put him up in a swanky hotel for the wedding party, they were standing in the room, separated by one of the full-sized beds Charlie had spread her clothes out on.

“No, Les. I can just dress up something I brought. It’s no big deal.” She was planning on going to a thrift shop she’d seen a couple of blocks away and finding something. It was a pride thing.

“You’re going to dress up jeans for a wedding? Really, I don’t mind.” He gestured in a placating manner, and she knew he didn’t mind, but it was the principle. He’d been so nice to her all day today, it was unnerving her. She got up at her normal time this morning, four thirty, and was on her laptop, catching up on emails and looking over her spreadsheets when he’d woken. Immediately, his face showed concern, asking how she’d slept, not seeming to believe that she’d slept fine.

Which made her wonder if she’d talked in her sleep.

She had issues, issues that were heavily medicated. One of them was a sleep issue, caused by depression, which was a symptom of her more alarming diagnosis—a borderline personality disorder. And she took medication for all of it. The sleeping pills put her to sleep, but she could only sleep so much, so she was a habitual early riser.

In the truck, he’d chatted amicably, staying on safe topics. He hadn’t asked again about her reaction to the motel, nor did he say anything at her relief to be staying in the nice hotel tonight.

“No one’s going to be looking at me, Les. They’re going to be watching you play. I can dress up a pair of jeans, or buy something myself. Don’t worry. I won’t embarrass you.” She worked hard for her money, was frugal and pinched pennies where she could. It enabled her to make contributions to the Refuge monthly and occasionally splurge on nice things.

“I’m not worried about you embarrassing me,” Les whispered. “And I know as soon as I walk in the door with you, nobody’s going to be looking at me.” There he was with that self-deprecating talk again.

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?” His innocence was refreshing. His guileless expression showed no hint of game-playing or ulterior motives. He honestly wasn’t fishing for compliments.

“Put yourself down like that. You’re an attractive man, Les.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think that’s a universal opinion.”

He’d been hurt in the past. The realization hit her like a truck, and Charlie was surprised to find herself feeling protective of him.

“Who?”

“Who, what?”

“Who stomped all over you, Les?”

He walked over to the chair in the corner where his guitar was leaning and sat down, bending over to pick up the instrument. He strummed it absently, lost in thought for a moment.

“I’ve always been the one to hold the torch and then get friend-zoned. It’s a pattern. There wasn’t just one specific girl.” He was plucking at the strings of the guitar softly, a background score to his words. “The last one was Renae, and I had put so much time into her, waiting patiently, only to watch her fall in love with a guy I’d inadvertently introduced her to.”

“Did you love her?”
Please don’t say yes.
Shocked at herself, she froze, biting her lip. Where did that thought come from? Charlie didn’t care if someone loved someone else. She didn’t care about love. Still she waited, not breathing, for his answer.

His deep brown eyes pierced her with an unreadable expression, sending a chill down her spine. “I thought I did at the time. I always do.” She almost didn’t hear him speak over the guitar, but it wasn’t because he was playing loud. His voice was that soft. “I even proposed to her, even though she’d been turning me down for dates for years. Talk about glutton for punishment.” He bent back down to his guitar, hiding his face from her.

“Have you ever had a girlfriend?” The way he talked, he’d never been happy with a woman, never had a relationship.

“Sure. I’ve had girlfriends, but they never really lasted. They always either found someone else, or just didn’t have the chemistry.” His eyes bored into hers with an intensity that made her stomach flop. Did he mean the chemistry between them? There had certainly been a few times where she’d wanted to shove her inhibitions about him out the window and rip his clothes off to explore his body.

“Friend-zoned, huh?”

He snorted, “Yeah, I’m the King of the Friend-zone. It’s definitely my very own territory.”

She was about to tell him something she knew she would regret. It would only give him hope, so she tempered it with a caveat. “I think you’re pretty hot, Les. I’ll help you find a girl who’s perfect for you as soon as I make a girlfriend to introduce you to.”

He smiled ruefully. “No thanks, Charlie. I’m good. I’ve sort of resigned myself to lurking in the wings, lusting after the unattainable.”

Resisting the urge to plant herself in his lap and run her fingers through his unruly mop of hair, she turned back to her small pile of clothes on the bed. She was running her hands over a pair of dress slacks she’d brought to wear to the auction, listening to Les strum on the guitar when her phone rang. Her blood pressure skyrocketed. Even though he hadn’t called in the last couple of days, she still knew.

“Hi, Justin.”

“Where are you now, Babe?”

“I’m in a hotel room in Santa Barbara. Les is playing at a wedding tonight, and I’m his date.”

She heard his quick inhale and could almost hear his knuckles cracking through the phone. His voice was deceptively quiet though. “You’re what?”

She sighed, exhausted with this. “Okay, I’m not answering the phone to you anymore, Justin. I don’t know how else to tell you, this isn’t working. I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Goodbye.” She pushed the button to end the call, and then turned her phone off to keep him from calling back. Tossing it onto the bed, she looked at Les, who had a suddenly hopeful look on his face.

“Don’t you start, too.” He shuttered his eyes, but a satisfied smirk remained on his mouth. Her eyes were glued to the feature as she continued. “I’m going shopping. I need something new, and I’m buying it myself. I’ll be back in a little while.” Grabbing her purse, she was out the door.

Thrift stores in Santa Barbara weren’t anything like thrift stores in Serendipity. Where Serendipity had tons of t-shirts, sweatpants, old bridesmaids’ dresses and flip flops that had been donated, Charlie actually found a cute little black dress with the tags still on it and a pair of strappy stilettos. For a steal. She stopped at the corner drugstore and bought Maybelline for her face and walked back to the hotel with her purchases.

When she got back to the room, Les was pacing and she had to contain her shock.

“Holy shit, you clean up well.” She managed, barely stopping herself from jumping him. He was dressed in black slacks that draped from his slim hips and a black dress shirt that made his shoulders look even wider than before. His hair was wet, or gelled, and the curls were contained, barely. One wayward curl escaped over his forehead, and she longed to twirl it in her fingers, to see if it was as silky as it looked.

“Thanks. I’m glad you’re back. Did you get everything you needed?” His eyes held tension in the wrinkles around the edges and his mouth was a stern line across his face.

Charlie held up her bags. “Yeah, I got some great stuff at the thrift shop down the street. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just a little case of nerves. This isn’t the Gin here.”

Unable to stop herself, Charlie stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around Les. “You’ll do great.” She squeezed and was rewarded by the feel of his long steely arms wrapping around her.

His head rested on her shoulder, fitting her perfectly. Charlie had never known this sensation before, the feeling of fitting with someone. Together, they were one unit. His solid torso pressed against hers and she pushed herself flush against his body, feeling him tense. His heart pounded against her chest and she could hear him take a deep breath.

“Thanks for that. I needed a hug.” The husky murmur against her earlobe made her insides tingle, and Charlie swore her panties were smoking. She sure could use a lot more than a hug.

But not now. And definitely not with Les.

She could feel stirring in his pants against her hip, and longed to grind against him and pull him onto the bed, six inches away.

But she knew better. Les would want more. She would only break his heart, and he was so broken already, she might just push him over the edge.

Too soon, he pushed her away, gently. “I’m going down to the bar for a drink. That might help. Meet me there when you’re ready?”

Suddenly feeling empty at the lack of Les in her arms, she stammered her agreement as she watched him walk out the door.

An hour later, she was showered, makeup applied, hair blow-dried, and had dressed in the little black dress and heels she’d bought. Proud of her transformation, she rode the elevator down to the lobby and entered the bar area. She found Les leaning on the corner of the bar, smiling and talking to a man in a tux.

She sauntered over, ignoring the feeling in her gut that had blossomed at seeing his teeth flashing.

His drink was halfway to his lips when he saw her and froze for a second before smiling at her.

“Charlie! And you said I clean up nice…” He embraced her and she could smell the whiskey on his breath mingling with the sandalwood aftershave. It was a heady combination, and she suddenly understood the meaning of the word swoon. “Meet Lance, the reason I’m here.” He released her from the all-too brief hug, but kept his hand on the small of her back. The tingles running from his hand through the thin fabric of the dress caused a distracting warmth to run up her spine.

Lance was a tall man, imposing in his tux, but his smile was gracious and warm. He extended his hand. “So nice to meet you. I’ve been hearing all about your adventures the last couple of days. Looks like you’re the hero of the hour, huh?” He turned back to Les, winking as he did. “You guys have a couple of drinks on me, but don’t be late, okay?”

With one last glance at Charlie, he swept out of the bar, tossing back a wave.

“He seems nice. College buddy?”

“Yeah, we were roommates at Texas State Technical College. He’s a pretty good guy.”

“Doesn’t seem nervous at all. I would be if I was getting married in a couple of hours.”

“Well, it’s not his first rodeo. I think this is number three for him. What do you want to drink?”

“I’ll have what you’re having.” He waved down the bartender, placing their order. “If at first you don’t succeed…” Her parents, for all their many many flaws, had at least managed to stay married to each other. She never could understand their commitment to one another when they couldn’t even commit to a child. They were like a modern day Bonnie and Clyde, except for instead of robbing banks, they abused and sold their daughter for sex.

When the drink came, she drank it fast to drown her suddenly morbid thoughts. She hadn’t been to a wedding in a while, and hadn’t thought it would bring these emotions to the surface. She’d better get prepared to start stomping them down, like that whack-a-mole game–each one that popped up, would be hammered back below the surface.

“You look really nice, Charlie.” Les sat down on the bar stool next to hers, and she could feel the heat of his thigh as it rested against hers. She might as well get prepared for that, too. Going to a wedding with a man who was shopping around for a bride to settle with probably wasn’t the best idea she’d had. But as she looked at the earnest expression on his face, and saw his eyes laced with yearning, the trepidation in her belly turned to a blossoming heat, a curling desire that shot tendrils of her own need up through her core.

BOOK: Saving Charlie (Stories of Serendipity Book 9)
11.39Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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